Here are some common patterns in Unix command options. This is a summary of the patterns Eric Raymond describes here.
| Option | Typical meaning |
|---|---|
| -a | All, append |
| -b | Buffer,block size, batch |
| -c | Command, check |
| -d | Debug, delete, directory |
| -D | Define |
| -e | Execute, edit |
| -f | File, force |
| -h | Headers, help |
| -i | Initialize |
| -I | Include |
| -k | Keep, kill |
| -l | List, long, load |
| -m | Message |
| -n | Number, not |
| -o | Output |
| -p | Port, protocol |
| -q | Quiet |
| -r | Recurse, reverse |
| -s | Silent, subject |
| -t | Tag |
| -u | User |
| -v | Verbose |
| -V | Version |
| -w | Width, warning |
| -x | Enable debugging, extract |
| -y | Yes |
| -z | Enable compression |
Thanks, This will be very useful!
What is your opinion of the long-form, gnu-style options such as –version and the like?
This looks terrifyingly like the Latin declension tables I once had to memorise. I hope this table doesn‘t end up being used the same way.
-h is also often used for Human readable
I met ESR while he was collecting research for that.
He presented his early findings and asked us, if he had missed any.
I said ‘-h’ and thus made a tiny impact on history.
@icaro : often? Can you give any other example?
@icaro : often? Can you give any popular example?